Improvement in machines for dressing hides



UNITED Sterns HORACE L. ARNOLD, OF ELK HORN, WISCONSIN.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,229, dated September 10, 1861.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, HORACE L. ARNOLD, of Elk Horn, in the county of Walworth and State of Visconsiin have in vented certain new and useful Improvements inMachinery for Dressing Hides; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descrip tion thereof, reference being` had to the accom-l panying drawings, making apart of this speciication, in Which- Figure lisa front elevation of my improved machine for dressing hides. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through Fig. l in the vertical plane indicated by red line :ma thereon. Fig.A

3 is a top View of a reciprocating quad rangular frame carrying inclined planes for lifting the knives, cbc., from the hide during the back-stroke. Fig. l is a toe-carrying frame, which is acted upon by the inclined planes on the frame of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a top view of the shaving-knife stock and right-angular arm. Fig. 6 is a transverse section through Fig. 5, indicated by red line .e z thereon. Fig. 7 is a View of the shaving-knife blade of Figs. 5 and G. Fig. 8 is a front view of the depilating-knife. Fig. 9 is a transverse section through Fig. 8, showing the rubbing-plate to which the depilating-knife is secured.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in machinery for depilating, eshing, and preparing` hides .for the tanning process, consisting in the employment of an alternate reciprocating carriage arranged over a horizontal bed on which the `.hides to be dressed are suitably clamped and carrying suitable knives and/a rubbingfplate arranged within said carriage, as will beheref inafterl described, so as to operate'uponthef' hides at every forward stroke of the carriage,` A".

all as will be hereinafter fully explained.A

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A represents the frame of the machine, which is of a suitable size and strength to contain and support the mechanism which I am about to describe.

B is a longitudinal way on which the saddle O slides back and forth, and C is a hori zontal plate which extends out from the bottom of the saddle C, to which it is bolted,V

over the adjustable bed D,on which the hides to be dressed are placed. The saddle C forms the drawings.

uthe same .plane as plate F.

sameplane.

a carriage for supporting the several parts used in the dressing operation, as will be hereinafter described. This carriage receives an alternate reciprocating movement from a vibrating lever E and a pitman E', the former of which is pivoted at its lower. end to the base of frame A, at one end of this frame, as shown in Fig. l of the drawings. The lever E has a sector-slot formed in. it. Described from the pivot at the foot of this lever and through this slot passes the horizontal driving-shaft a. The sector thus allows the lever E to vibrate each side of the shaft a. The cam ct, which is keyed to shafta and rotated by this shaft, acts alternately against the headed studs b b at the extremities of the sector-slot and vibrates the lever E with a uniform movement. The pitman E is pivoted at one end to the upper end of lever E, and at the otner end this pitman is pivoted to the bottom plate of the saddle on sliding box O, all as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and2 of The saddle O fits snugly on the square bar B, and the horizontal plate Of receives a steady and uniform movement from end to end of the frameA.

F is a rectangular plate whichis hung under the plate C in a plane parallel with this plate by four perpendicular rods c c cc, which pass loosely through holes through the plate O and receive adjusting-nuts o c c c 0u their upper ends. These f our rods c c c c will allow the plate F, to which they are secured,

AtoY rise and fall in a horizontal plane.

Preceding the plate F, or at one end of it,

vis a plate F', which is bent so as to form a Vright angle, or one perpendicular and one horizontal surface,'as shown in Figs. 1 and 9 ofthe drawings. This plate F is the rub- Thing-plate, as will be hereinafter explained,

anditis hung by two perpendicular rods d d one at each end-which rods also pass up through the plate C and receive adjusting- .nuts CZ d on their upper ends.

These two rods tl d allow the plate F to rise and fall in The bottom surfacesofplates F and F should be kept in the The six perpendicular rods c c c c and d flpass through the corners of a cuadrangular lifting-frame G, between which and the plate C a reciprocating frame Gr (shown in Fig. 3) is interposed, which rests ou the plate C', as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. This reciprocating or sliding frame G carries on its two longitudinal sides four inclined planes c c c e, on the inclined surfaces of which rest lifting-toes ffff, which project outfrom the sides of the lifting-frame G, as shown clearly in Fig. 4. The alternate sliding movement of frame G will raise and depress the liftingframe G, and this frame Gr will raise and depress the two plates F and F. The sliding movement is imparted to the frame G by the buffers g g at each end of the adjustable bed D, against which buffers the ends of the frame G alternately strike. The frameG is held in the desired position by a vibrating loaded arm g', which is secured to the upper end ofa vertical rock-shaft g2, having its upper bearings in a bracket h, projecting from saddle c and stepped in plate C. Shaft g2 carries on its lower end a pinion spur-wheel h', the teeth of which engage with rack-teeth h2 which are formed on one edge of the frame G. Thus as the frame G ismoved back and forth on plate C by its striking the buffers at each end of the bed D the loaded arm or lever g will be vibrated, describing a selnicircle, more or less. This loaded arm g', with the mechanism attached to it, is introduced for the purpose of counterbalancing the weight or the plate C and the tools which this plate carries during the return-stroke, when the loaded arm hangs as so much deadweight upon one side of the saddle, and also to add a sufficient weight tothe said plate C during the forward or working stroke to keep the springs?. t' t' from pushing it up.

Between the plates F and F and the plate C are interposed elliptic or other suitable springs 'L' i li, two of which actupon the plate V F to force it downward and one acts upon the plate F to force it downward. These three springs t' t' t' -are compressed during the backward stroke of the carriage when the plates F F are elevated, and when the frame G strikes the buffer g previous to the forward stroke of this carriage the springs recoil and throw the plates F F downward as far as the adjusting-nuts c c c c CZ d will permit.

The right-'angular plate F is suitably shapedon its bottom surface for rubbing down and smoothing out the skins which are spread over the bed D, and on the outside surface of the perpendicular portion of this rubbingplate F the depilating-knife H is affixed by set-screws j j, which pass through vertical slots through the knife H for allowing the knife to be properly adjusted or removed at pleasure. This knife H may be set so that its edge will project below the lower surface of the rubbing-plate F or its edge may beset slightly above thelower surface of the rubbingplate. ln the former position the knife is used for fleshing the hide, and in the latter for depilating it. The knife H is at right angles, or nearly so, with the edges of the hed D, and the knife may stand either in a perpendicular position to the lower surfaces of the plates F F or it may incline from this position, as

occasion requires. In rear of this knife H is another knife J, which is intended for green shaving. This latter knife is a plain rightangular piece of steel having a beveled cutting-edge on one edge and three or more notches cut in the other edge, as shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings The knife J is bolted toa stock J by the bolts 7tk 71:, which are secured to a beveled-edge faceplate 71: and project perpendicularly from this plato. The bolts t- 71 7e pass through the notches in the back of knife-plate J and through the stock J, re-

ceiving on their ends nuts, by means of which the face-plate it" is made to clamp the knife J tightly in its place. knife-stock J rest in half-bearing portions m m, formed on each side of the rear end of the plate F, as shown in Figs. l and 2 of the drawings, which bearing portions allow the knife-stock J to be removed and replaced at pleasure. L

One of the portions Z of the knife-stock J is extended out beyond its bearing portion m to receive a bent arm n, which is secured to the knife-stock by a set-screw Z. (Shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6.) This bent arm n is provided with 'a gage-screw n. at its extreme end, which rests upon plate F and is used to regulate the cut of the knife J. Arm a also carries a stud o,on which rests a lever p, that is keyed to a transverse rock-shaftp, which has its bearings on top of and near the forward end of the plate F. Lever p passes back over the stud 0 on arm n, and the sole use of this lever is to depress the said bentl arm. A small spring 0 on plate F raises the bent arm n whenever the lever p is at liberty. The knifeJ sets in a throat which is made transversely across plate F after the-manner screw n the thickness of the shaving or theL cut of the knife J can be regulated with the greatest nicety. lt will be observed that when the operator does not depress the'handlever p the edge of knife J does not touch the hide, and that when he does depress leverp then the knife J is in a position to cut.

The metallic bed D has a plain smooth surface on top and extends from end to end of frame A. One end of this bed D is pivoted to ears r r andA the other end of this bed isA` sustained by the adj Listing-screws r fr', which pass perpendicularly through the bed and rest on a bracket s, projecting from the inside of frame A. By means of screws r r the bed D can be adjusted at any desired inclination from a .horizontal plane.

At or near the pivoted end of the adjustable bed D isarranged a clamping device for The ends Z Zof the confining the hides to this end of the bed. 'lhis device consists of grippingplate s', placed transversely across the bed D, which plate has two right-angular slotted ears t projecting down on each side of bed D, through the slots of which pass a rod t', carrying on its ends cams u a, and a lever r, which, on being turned so as to force the cams au down on foot-pieces projecting from the ears t t, will force the plate s down hard on the "surface of bed D or on the hide which is `slipped under this plate s. The forked spring-plate 'w is used to raise the grippingplate s when it is released from cams it u.

The operation of the entire machine is as follows: Rotary motion is communicated to i nate reciprocating` motion to the saddle C and the devices which are attached to this saddle. The length of the stroke of this saddle C is so regulated that the right-angular frame G will strike the buers g gat the terminus of each stroke, and this frame G is moved back and forth on the plate G in consequence of its striking the buffers g g.

The hide to be dressed is placed on the adjustable bed D and clamped to one end of this bed by forcing the lever n down in the position shown in Fig. l, which grips the hide and retains it in place. The hide is not secured at the opposite end of bed D. rlhis bed D is new adjusted so as to bring the surface of the hide in the proper relation 'to the plates F F, so that these plates will bear on the hide the full length of the forward stroke of these plates. The plates F F are also adjusted by means of nuts ccc' c Cl d', so that they will receive the desired riseand-fall movement from the inclined planes e e e e on sliding frame G. The knife-plate ll is also adjusted in a proper position to A operate upon the hide either as a depilatingknife or as a ileshing-knife. Now it will be seen that at the termination of every forward stroke of the carriage the end of frame G Awill strike the buffer g at this end of the table and be moved backward on plate C', which movementwill cause theinclined plan es e e e e to raise the frame G, and with it the two plates F F. The loaded arm g will at the same time be thrown round, and the two plates F and F will be held above the surface of the hide in the backward stroke of the carriage. At the termination ofthe backward stroke of the carriage the frame G strikes the buffer g at this end of the bed D, and the inclined planes e e e e are thrown back, allowing springs t' lL' fr' t' to force the plates F F down simultaneously on the surface of the hide upon bed D, so thatin the forward stroke of the carriage the knife H and plates F F will operate upon the hide. In this forward or working stroke the operator depresses the free cud of lever j), which operation moves arm n down until the adjusting-screw n rests on the plate F. This movement will bring the edge Yof knife J into cutting action, and a shaving will be uniformly cut from the hide, the thickness of which shaving is determined by the adjustment of arinnl by means of screw ni. \Vhen lever p is released at the end of the forward stroke, the spring' o under arm n raises the parts to their former position. lVhen the knife F is adjusted as indicated in red lines in Fig. l

of the drawings, the plate F rubs the hide y down on bed D smoothly, while the knife scrapes off the hair from the hide.

The operation of knife Jis that of cutting, not scraping, as in the process of depilating. As one part of the hide is dressed another part is drawn under theV knives until the surfaces of the entire hide are properly dressed, when the hide is removed and another pnt upon the bed D, clamped, and dressed in the same manner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new in hide-dressing machines, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The described arrangement-of reciprocating knives H J, working over an adjustable bed D, in the manner and for the pur-` pose substantially as herein set forth.

2. A knife J, placed in plate F and working through this plate, as herein described, for the purposes set forth. i

Placing in front of knife J' and plate F a disconnected independent rubber plate F, as and for the purposes herein specified.

4. The herein-described manner of securing the knife H to the rubber plate F, so that it can be adjusted relatively thereto, for the purposes herein set forth.

5. A knife-stock J', with bearings, prolonv gations, tongue, clamping-plate k', and bolts 7c, for securing and adjusting knife J, .as herein set forth. e

6. The arm n, with gage-screw n', stud o, and set-screw Z, as set forth, for the purposes mentioned.

7. A hand-leverp, rack-shaft p', and bearings, and spring n', for elevating bent arm n, as set forth.

S. Keeping the knife-plate F and rubber plate F snug upon the hide by means of springs t' 't' t', arranged as set forth.

9. The combination of buffers g g, sliding rectangle G', inclined planes e e ee, liftingframe G and studs d d c c c c, with their nuts, by means of which all the vtools are lifted from the hide at the commencement of the return-stroke and suffered to fall upon it again at the commencement of the workingstroke, substantially as herein described. v

l0. The combination of buffers g g with the sliding frame G', rack h2, pinion L, shaft g2, and loaded arm g', as herein set forth.

l1. Placing the bed D in front of the saddle- Y way B instead of beneath it, as and for the purposes herein set forth.

nmehine te the frame A at one end, and support-ing said bed at the opposite end by adjusting-screws r r on bracket s, as and for the purposes set forth.

HORACE L. ARNOLD.

l2. Se Forming and extending` the saddle C and its plate C that it may work over bed D in the manner herein set forth.

13. Giving motion to the saddle C or cutterhe'fnd of a, hide-dressing` maehine by means of a segmental slotted lever E, as described, whereby a uniform motion ofthe tool is ob- Vitnesses:

f PETER GOLDER,

tained.

14. Hinging the bed D of :L hide dressing M. E. DEWING. 

